January 2010 Archives

At the end of six long days of jury selection in the case against one of two men accused in the deadly 2007 Cheshire home invasion, there jurors were chosen.

One man, a writer who was out of the country during the horrific 2007 murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17 and Michaela, 11.

And two women: a grandmother raising her grandchild from East Haven. And a newly married young woman who works as an analyst for the state Department of Environmental Protection, who was chosen Tuesday.

It's a roller coaster ride of minutia, emotion and everything in between inside that New Haven courtroom -- including, thankfully, a little humor.

When the state DEP analyst said Tuesday that she recognized State's Attorney Michael Dearington from a gym she used to attend, Superior Court Judge Jon Blue didn't miss a beat when he asked, "Is he powerfully built?"

Tuesday was the first day of jury selection in the case of Steven Hayes, one of two men accused in the deadly Cheshire home invasion.

It was a long, brutal day -- on several levels. Not the least of which was that after a full day not one of the 18 jurors called were chosen.

Wednesday, 45 more potential jurors will be back in court as the process continues.

From the start, it was clear how devastating reliving the horror of the deadly home invasion will be for the Petit family.

But what also became apparent Tuesday was how deeply the random and frightening tragedy has affected the whole state, and many of the people who were shocked to discover that they were being called to serve on a jury many clearly wanted no part of.

The father who expressed his desire to strangle Hayes.

The spiritual man who was clearly tortured between his forgiving faith and the unforgivable actions the man before him was accused of.

And the young woman, a student who broke down on the stand when asked if there was some reason that she couldn't be on the jury.

"It just makes me feel uncomfortable," she cried. "I'm sorry."

In the middle of that heartwrenching emotion, a welcome moment of levity: The man who seemed a good fit for the jury -- until he admitted he was a diabetic who has fallen asleep during another trial he served on.

I spent the day Tweeting from the courtroom. Here are some highlights:

Plans are coming along to open a bank account for cash donations. More on that later. In the meantime, their tentative plan Alexandre told me this afternoon, is to send money to an organization in the Dominican Republic, which will then coordinate bringing in much-needed water into Haiti.

Businesses throughout the city will also be collecting non-perishable items and toiletries in barrels like the one above, and below.

To be honest, I was dreading calling Joe today. I didn't want to get his hopes up again with just the sound of his phone.

So, I headed over to market.

He'd already finished his shift, his boss Yvon Alexandre told me. But as far as he knew he hadn't heard from his daughter yet.

Not a good sign, Alexandre and I agreed.

"At this point, I'm very concerned," Alexandre said. "She lives in an area that was pretty much flattened by the earthquake."

We sat in his backroom for a moment, considering the devastating possibilities.

And then he dialed Joe's cell phone number.

For a moment, I could almost hear the air leave the room.

And then Joe picked up.

Have you heard from her Joe? Alexandre asked.

Joe sounded giddy when he answered, "Yes."

As he'd been doing since the earthquake, Joe spent the morning calling his daughter with no answer.

But then just about an hour before we got in touch with him, his phone rang and it was her.

She was alive, she told her father.

It was a short conversation, Joe told us. But before the line cut off, she was able to tell him that she and his grandchildren were fine. Her house was still standing, but it had no roof, no running water or electricity.

At today's press conference about year-end crime stats, both Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and Police Chief Daryl Roberts both admitted that declining crime numbers don't mean a thing if people still feel unsafe in the city.

From Perez: People's perception and the facts have to come together.

From Roberts: "The numbers are great, but numbers don't matter if you don't feel safe."

Floored, party of one.

Do you know how many year's I've been going to these dog and pony shows only to hear the police chief and mayor-of-the-moment dance around the stats? Sure, shooting incidents are up, but look at how many fewer cars are being stolen. Success!

I counted on more of the same with Monday's press conference, but then was pleasantly surprised.

Could be this was all just a bunch of lip service from folks who've finally figured out the best way to swat reporters away is to acknowledge the obvious.

Understand that before reading this titillating tidbit, I'd just come from watching Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez work the cafeteria at the Legislative Office Building.

Who, I wondered as El Jefe chatted it up with New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, could possibly take this twice arrested mayor seriously? (Especially after he and elder pol Abe Giles made Time's best 2009 mug shots.)

And now -- at least according to Brookman's well-read "We The People" blog, was another example of a city "leader" with what read as a massive lack of shame.

(Forget looking for experience or vision next election day, people. Shame, my friends, is the trait the next person who wants to lead this city must possess. Trust me, having just a little might save us a corruption or two.)

The men standing outside Hartford's no-freeze homeless shelter were braced for the bone-chilling cold Tuesday night; hoodies pulled tight around their heads, long, heavy coats shielding them from the wind.

The doors weren't scheduled to officially open for the night for another two hours, but the man inside said he'd let the men in as soon as another employee showed up. It was too cold to have the men wait much longer.

One man, who just gave his name as Anthony, said he makes the walk from the North End of the city to the Lafayette Street shelter every night -- making sure to get there early enough to secure one of the coveted beds inside.

A friend -- who knows me well -- had a case (that's right, a case) of Deep River Cracked Pepper & Sea Salt potato chips delivered to my cubicle for Christmas.

It was one of the most thoughtful, if diet busting, gifts I received this season.

Stupidly, I thought I could deal with having bags upon bags of my favorite potato chips in such close proximity.

I gave a few bags to colleagues I knew would appreciate The Best Chips Ever. And then I put the rest under my cubicle to be rationed out over the year or so, I naively told myself. (I had, after all, vowed to eat better.)

And then the chips started to call my name -- Helllllleen....

So, I had a bag.

And then a couple of hours later, they began calling to me again. So, I had another.

And then just a few moments ago, I polished off my third bag.

In case you're wondering -- at 150 calories per serving and two servings per bag, we're talking 900 calories!

I love my friend for giving me the gift.

But I finally decided that I have to set the case out for everyone in the newsroom -- not because of some New Year's resolution to be nice, kinder, more generous. (Truth be told, I saved a few bags for myself.)

But because if I don't, someone's going to have to roll me out of here.

Despite three days of talking about the "threat homosexuals posed to the bible-based values and the traditional African family" the three men said they were shocked at the introduction of the Anti- Homosexuality Bill.

Really?

Said one of the Americans: "That's horrible, absolutely horrible. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are gay people."

Not so fast, one critic said: "What these people have done is set the fire they can't quench."

Based on that article, I agree. How can you spread such ignorant and hateful anti-homosexuality messages and then be surprised when it leads to this case, potentially a death sentence for homosexuals?

But what do you think?

Are the American evangelicals and their anti-gay responsible for fueling the hate-filled fire of Ugandan homophobia?

Or is the law just a coincidental byproduct of an already conservative Christian country that believes homosexuality is "immoral Western import" that can be cured?